Blasco Ibañez, propagandist .

(College nf Iltberal Arts
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The Gift OF"thi. Ry±ho>*

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BOSTON UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL

Thesis

BLASCO IBANEZ, PROPAGANDIST

by

Delphin George McFarland
(B.B.A., Boston University, 1929)

Submitted in partial fulfillment of
requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
1932

BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY

«

A

OUT lime

1. Introduction. A.M. 1^3^, page 1

a. The youth of blasco Ibanez. Page 1

b. Valencian novels. Page 1

c. Turbulent days. Page 2

2. The plots and the propaganda of the second
series of novels .

a. La Gatedral. Page 5

b. El Intruso. Page 7

c . La Bodega . Page 11

d. La Horda. Page 19

e. Sangre y ^rena . Page 21

3. Other works of propaganda. Page 26

a. Los Cuatro Jinetes del Apoc & lipsis •

b. Una Kacio'n Secuestrada .

4. A word about the propaganda of the Valencian

novels . Page 27

5. Emotion Page 28

6. Rereading for pleasure. Page 29

7. description. Page 29

a. The principal characters. Page 30

b. The women. Page 31

c. The secondary characters. Pa^e 33

8. The agitators compared with the religious

fanatics. Page 33

9. .accusations against Blasco Ibanez.

a. A melodramatic writer. Page 35

b. A vulgar and obscene writer. Page 36

c. A pessimist. Page 37

10. Style. Page 38

11, The radical characters are exaggerated. Page 40

A

12, Value of these novels. Page 43.

13* His third literary period. Page 46.

In Valencia in the year 1867 was born a child who
was destined to become a great fighter for the Republican
cause in Spain. He was to be as bold and fearless with
his pen as was the Gid v?ith his sword. Blasco Ibanez
was headed for an exciting, adventurous life even from
his childhood days. He was an intelligent boy but he
would rather play games in which skill and dexterity were
required than to read books. Even while so young he dis-
played a rebellious spirit against whatever implied method,
order, system, or discipline. In these impetuous days of
his youth one catches glimpses through his biographers of
his great vigor. At the age of seventeen he disappeared
from his Valencian home ana lived and worked for a while
in Madrid. The bad boy was taken home but later this
rebellious spirit broke out again for it became not an
uncommon sight to see Blasco Ibanez before a Valencian
street crowd stirring them up against conditions such as
existed in Spain at the tine. One of his first creative
ana lasting works was the founding of a daily newspaper,
"El Pueblo", in Valencia. It was in the editorial rooms
of this newspaper during the early hours of the morning
that Blasco wrote his first books that made him famous
as one of the greatest of Spain's regional novelists.
His novels of Valencia, its customs and its people, put
him in a class with Galdos, Pereda, Valdes, and Pardo
Baza'n, other masters of the Spanish regional novel. If

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2014

if.

https://archive.org/details/blascoibanezpropOOmcfa

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he had been content to let these few novels be his contri-
butions to art, or if he had continued to interpret the
life of his province, his fame as a great contemporary
writer would certainlv have been secured. But something
happened. Blasco began to travel. He left his Valencia
and saw more of his Spain. This change was accompanied
by a revolutionary change in his writing. One may wonder
why this took place. Did he, as he wrote in a letter to
his friend, Cejador y Franca, write his next series of
novels, with sincerity and with good intentions to in-
fluence the people of his country to do something about
bettering conditions? Or did he, according to his biogra-
pher, Camille Pitollet, discover that it was too dull to
believe in art for art's sake? Did he really wish to lay
bare the pitiful conditions of a shackled country in order
to stir his countrymen to action, or did he simply wish to
stir things up for the sake of stirring them up and win
fame and fortune?

The fact is that turbulent days followed in the
trail of the Valencian novels. Blasco denounced Spain's
policy with regard to Cuba and he had to flee. He went
to Italy where he wrote "En el Pafs del Arte". Upon his
return he was put in prison for a year. Later, while
serving as a congressman for Valencia seven times in
succession, he became known as a republican propagandist.
After this he left politics and established a publishing
house, F. bempere and Go. Besides using this as a means
of circulating his radical ideas he sold inexpensive trans-

ft

lations of the works of Zola, Hugo, Gorki, Sudermarm,
Ibsen, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Sorel, and other great
foreign writers.

Now that Blasco Ihanez was free to devote his entire
time to writing he produced, in the five years between 1903
and 1908, the five important novels of propaganda --" La
Catedral, "El Intruso" , "La Bodega, "La Horda" , and "Sangre
y nrena".

"La Catedral" is a savage attack on the church, the army,
and the monarchy. The principal character, Gabriel Luna,
born in the cathedral of Toledo of a family that had been
employed in the cathedral for several generations, is
enabled to study for the priesthood. While engrossed in
this pursuit the revolution, which is to change his entire
life, breaks out. After fighting for the "carlistas" he is
exiled to France, in the capital city of which he begins to
study. First he neglects theology, so interested is he in
his new life; later he renounces it; and he ends by cursing
it. He begins to dream of a social change and is seized
with a desire to help better the condition of his fellow
men. He becomes a champion of ideas that are rather anar-
chistic and it is not long before his name becomes famous
throughout Europe as an ardent exponent of the "idea". As
he is a convincing speaker, he soon becomes one of the leaders,
his work taking him to distant parts of Europe. Finally,
after an absence of many years, he returns to Spain to help
his countrymen. At Barcelona he is seized in connection
with a plot and thrown into prison where he languishes for
several months. After being set free he decides to return

i

{

to the cathedral at Toledo to spend there in peace and soli-
tude his few remaining days. By this time he is only too
well known by the police everywhere throughout Europe and
particularly Spain, and he is given no time to rest in
peace, buffering from consumption brought on by exposure,
hunger, and ill-treatment, he seeks refuge in the cathedral,
knowing that his brother will not refuse to take him in.
For a time he lives unmolested and is as happy as his sick
condition will permit. He prevails upon his brother to take
back a niece who, after being betrayed by a man, is leading
a miserable life in Madrid. Both victims of an "unjust social
system", a mystic love binds them closer and closer. In the
meantime, Gabriel, finding it impossible to desist from his
bad practice of spreading propaganda, unconsciously influences
the simple minds of the other employees in the cathedral,
holding them entranced for an hour or two at a time by his
obvious reasoning. Now although Gabriel is not of the bomb-
throwing type of anarchists his disciples misinterpret his
arguments. One night while performing his duties as night
watchman, Gabriel is attacked and killed by his "companeros" ,
who have planned to rob the treasure of the cathedral.

Gabriel Luna is, in the opinion of some critics,
mentally unbalanced. He has all the ideas of anarchists
and communists and throughout the book he denounces religion
and what he considers the backwardness of Spain. Luna
struggles constantly to change the ideas of the average
Spaniard who is represented by his brother Esteban.

r

"dDe que te ha servido tanto leer perio'dicos
y libros? dPara que' ese deseo de arreglar lo
que esta bien o si esta' mal no tiene arreglo
pos ible? /De seguir tranquilamente tu camino
serias beneficiado de la catedral, y quie'n
sabe si te sentarfas en el coro, entre los
candnigos, para honra y amparo de la familial...."

Esteban, then, is the type of person who never desires

to do some real thinking. Things are good enough for him as
they are. Furthermore, if things are not what they should
be, why try to change them when that is impossible?

The following quotation shows Luna's attitude toward
religion:

capaz de desarrollo: era un abceso que
aguardaba la hora de ser extirpado o de
disolverse por los ge'rrnenes mortales que
llevaba en su interior."2

And so all through the book the reader is over

whelmed with an immense amount of propaganda against the
church which is represented as a cancer slowly eating out
the vital organs of Spain.

If one attempted to reread "La Catedral" one would
find it dull and uninteresting. The reader would be tempted
to skip those pages in which the propaganda appears. Let
us suppose that all those pages were eliminated from the
book, nothing would remain for there is no story. The
plot, such as it is, appears in the first two chapters only.
In the following chapters the story is suppressed for the
sake of the propaganda. Luna simply lives in the cathedral

1. La Qatedral, pp. 17 - 18

2 . Ibid., p. 217 .

"La Catedral era para Gabriel un gigantesco
tumor que hinchaba la epidermis espafiola

and brings out all his anti-religious and anarchistic
ideas •

Bias co does not regard the cathedral in the manner
of an inspired poet. But he realizes its beauty and its
splendor for here and there he does leave his trail of des-
truction and tell something about its grandeur. In the
opening lines of the book the reader can visualize with the
writer the cathedral as it appears at sunrise. Inside, he
sees the slanting rays of the sun colored by the stained
windows high above him. At night he experiences the solitude
of the cool, dark interior. He sees the great columns, the
paintings, and the images dancing mysteriously in the feeble
light of the night-watchman's lantern. From the tops of
the towers he commands a view of the entire city. But this
beauty and splendor is engulfed in the rush of propaganda
for it is all a symbol of a past that Blasco condemns.

He uses some fifteen pages to cover the lives of all
the bishops; the third chapter begins with an evolution of
religion; then follow two conversations about music and the
family, its honor, the spiritual life, prostitution, and
other evils; a study of the decline in importance of Spain;
something on the melancholy spirit which prevails over the
Spanish people; an outline of the Spanish monarchy through
the centuries; propaganda against the wealth of the church;
a discussion with the employees of the cathedral of the
spiritual life; propaganda against the army; a chapter on
happiness, communism and the ideas of Darwin; finally, a
vain attempt on the part of Gabriel to explain to ignorant

men why they should not rob the treasure of the cathedral.

All this really does not belong in a novel. It

could all be written in a little different form and published

in a pamphlet. andreS Gonzalez Blanco says:

"iviejor fuera que hubiera eicrito un folleto
de propaganda antirreligiosa y antimona'rqui^--
Incluso lo hubiera podido firmar con el
pseuddnimo de Gabriel Luna para dar m£s
encanto misterioso a la obra y espolear
la curiosidad del lector. "-1-

Blasco himself once said "La Catedral" was the book
he liked least. "Lo encuentro pesado; hay en ^1 demasiada
doctrina .

"El Intruso", which presents another aspect of the
same religion that is scored in "La Catedral", is a direct
attack against the Jesuits in Bilbao. In this novel the
churchmen leave their secluded places of devotion and mix
with the outside world, publish books, magazines and
journals, establish educational institutions, and enter
into and direct the daily lives of individuals. One of
the biographers and critics of Blasco Ibariez writes of these
two books:

,MLa Catedral1 es el simbolo de la religidn
tradicional, quietista y como momificada,
que subsiste aislada del mundo y confia a la
autoridad y esclavecimiento de su 3arga
his tor ia la salud de su porvenir; !E1 Intruso' ,
por el contrario, es la mascara de la religio'n
moderna, la religidn militante, que huye del
reposo claustral porque comprende que en £1
esta la muerte ...."3

Sanchez Morueta, a great industrial leader, is the
richest and most influential man in all Bilbao. This man

1. His tor ia de la Novela en Espaffa, p. 625.

2. Eduardo Zamacois, Mis Contempora'neos , pp. 52 - 53.
5. Ibid., pp. 55 - 56.

*•

has everything that money can buy but he is not happy.
His wife and daughter seem so different from him that his
home life means nothing. In fact, he is driven to seek
pleasure outside. At the beginning of the story he scoffs
at the idea of the Jesuits ever getting him in their power.
At that very moment, however, they are entering his home,
sitting at his table, appropriating his money, running his
business, and in short, directing all his affairs. The
religious order has already won over his fanatical wife.
Finally, he finds himself caught in the mesh when too old
and weak to struggle against the tentacles that are slowly
closing about him. It is time to prepare himself for death
and the spiritual life.

In "El Intruso" Blasco Ibdnez sows his seeds of
propaganda by means of Luis Aresti, a young doctor. This
man prefers to take care of the poor people who work in the
mines near Bilbao than to live in the city and make more
money.

In the first place the writer lays bare the
wretched conditions in which the miners exist. He has the
doctor go into the homes of these poor people in order
that the reader may understand the extreme poverty with
which they are burdened. On the other hand, Aresti1 s
relative in Bilbao, Sanchez Morueta, is a fabulously
wealthy industrial leader with more money than he can use.

But all this is secondary to the propaganda against
the Jesuits. Doctor Aresti is made bitter against this
religious order by a short and unhappy married life. It

i

is not long after his wedding that he begins to have
trouble with his wife ana her people because he is not
religious enough. He was never particularly interested in
the church anyway, so this experience makes him bitterer.
Finally he can stand it no longer, so he leaves that hostile
home and goes to a mining town at some distance from Bilbao.
The people he has left behind curse his Science and he curses
their Religion. From then on his religion is Science and
Social Justice—Science as the means and Social Justice
as the end.

Then follows a detailed account of the married life

of banchez Morueta:

"No le extranaba (Aresti) la situacidn de
Sanchez: era la de muchos poderosos de
aquella tierra . Vivian rodeados de todos
los goces de la opulencia, pero en una
triste pobreza de afectos. Los matrimonios
eran vulgares asociaciones para crear hijos
y que la fortuna no se perdiese. Marido y
mujer vivfan en aislamiento moral; 61 bus-
cando consuelos fuera de la casa en amores
medrosamente ocultados; ella dedicandose a
la devocidn."!

In other words, the wife of Sanchez Morueta has been
won over to the side of the Jesuits and is helping to extend
their heavy grip on the very life of Bilbao by blind de-
votion, sacrifice, and the money of her husband. And so,
at the very moment when this strong man, this industrial
giant, this person who has built great factories and who
commands thousands of men, is proudly boasting to Aresti
in the garden of his home that he shall never become a
victim of the Jesuits, he is being slowly but surely

1. £1 Intruso, p. 107.

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gathered into the ever-tightening net. At any moment of

weakness he can be conquered.

Sanchez Morueta has one daughter, Pepitti,.

"Aresti ver*a en su sobrina la nina rica de
las familias de su tierra; educada primero
por las monjas y dirigida luego por el
confesor hasta en los hechos mas insignifi-
cantes, con la voluntad adormecida y consider-
ando como un pecado el ma^s leve intento de
independenc ia ." 1

In one instance Aresti remarks about the sadness

of that part of the country.

" iNI amor, ni bailes, ni trato social entre
los dos sexos, ni expansiones de la juventud!...
La vida estaba momificada en su pais. Era un
cementerio muy hermoso, en el cual no habfa
mds seres vivos que los pajaros negros que lo
cubrfan con sus alas."2

Fernando Sanabre is a promising young engineer who
is employed by Sanchez Morueta. Fernando and Pepita fall in
love with each other. The Jesuits find it out. Blasco
shows in detail how they proceed to pry into the private
affairs of individuals. They go further. Pepita is
"advisee" not to have 'anything more to do with Fernando,
after which a "novio" is chosen for her. Of course Fernando
is only a poor boy and brquiola is rich. In the meantime
Sanchez Morueta wonders why Fernando has decided to leave
him and go back to his province.

In these ways, then, does Blasco Ib^nez bring out his
revolutionary iceas in this book. It can be readily under-
stood according to "El Intruso" , how the Jesuits enter into
and direct the private affairs of persons.

1. El Intruso, p. 88.

2. Ibid., p. 163.

r

In this book there are not so many dialogues, dis-
cussions, or monologues for or against religion and the
social order. In chapter three there is a discussion on
capital and labor. In another part there is a long attack
on the Jesuits. In chapter eight there is a long discussion
between brquiola, the defender of the Jesuits, and Aresti;
but the bitterness of this discussion is tempered somewhat
by the interference of Gristina, Sanchez Morueta and Pepita.

It is evident that Blasco Ibanez realized that if he
did not change his procedure, he would produce another book
like "La Catedral" • The direct attacks against the church
are tempered ana are fewer in number. He has made the
story itself more interesting so that the dose is sweetened
to a certain extent.

"La Bodega" is another work of propaganda not only
against the church but especially against drinking. In
imdaluc La the church enters into and directs the affairs
of private commercial enterprises. Drinking is scored in
a way that can never be forgotten by the reader. Rafael
and Maria de la Luz, a happy young couple of the peasant
class, upon whom nobody would wish harm to fall, are sweet-
hearts. Luis Dupont, a relative of Pablo Dupont, owner of
the greatest "bodegas" in Je'rez, is "simpatico" to be sure,
but lazy, sporty, unproductive, and wild. One night ,• during
a gay drinking party, Luis violates Maria de la Luz, who is
under the influence of liquor. Fermin Montenegro, Maria's
brother, tries to arrange matters with Pablo Dupont, who,
of course, delays action. Upon the flat refusal of Luis
himself to come to terms', Fermin, in a rage, kills him and

- 12 -

has to flee from Spain. Maria de la Luz is doomed to a
long life of sorrow and penitence, Raf ael 1 s ' life is
blackened, and the father of Fermin has become embittered.
In short, the cursed custom of drinking causes a death, the
ruination of a happy family, and the rupture of a courtship.

The anarchist of this book is Fernando Salvatierra,
a good soul devoted to the cause of instructing the lower
classes how to go about securing social justice from the
rich. He is the same type of person as Gabriel Luna.
Throughout the book one finds Fernando Salvatierra engaged
in long conversations which contain in germ the ideas of
Blasco Ibaftez. He has spent much of his time in jail and
his face shows the effects of that life. He is worshipped
by the poor people as a real leader and the sound of his
name causes the rich people to squirm with uneasiness.
Both in and out of jail he helps his fellow men by giving
them some of his food and clothing. He is perfectly harm-
less, yet whenever he appears in -".ndalucia for a few weeks
the authorities become alarmed and the police is concen-
trated in certain places. He alone is incapable of doing
harm but he can cause harm to be done indirectly by means
of "los de aba jo" to whom he constantly preaches.

The Sanchez korueta of this novel is Pablo Dupont,
the wealthiest wine merchant in Jerez. This man differs
from korueta, however, in that he is a religious fanatic.
This is another case in which the church enters into and
directs not only the lives of everybody but the operations

•I

I

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of business firms to an amazing extent. The office of the
company, with its images of saints here and there, is like
a monastery. None of the clerks dare foster an independent
thought, for Pablo Lupont, the employer and religious
7* * guardian, will be displeased. Furthermore, on Sundays and

on days when religious festivals are held Fablo Dupont re-
quires the attendance of all his employees of the office
and the factory.

There are in his office two non-Spaniards whom he has
to keep to handle the foreign correspondence. Now and then
he becomes irritated because they never go to church.

"Esto se acabara. Si estos extranjeros no van
a la iglesia como los deiras los despedire: no
quiero que den en mi casa. malos ejemplos y
que te sir-van de pretexto a ti para echarles
de hereje.11!

He never lets them. go, however, for he needs them
in his business .

Elsewhere he say$;

"Un amo cristiano debe preocuparse no s6lo
de la vida de sus dependientes , sin^de su
alma ."^

The book is filled with descriptions of the miser-
able conditions under which the laborers live. Reference
is made to the long hours of toil and to the insufficient
food with which they try to nourish their frames of skin
and bones •

"Bajo los sombreros deformes solo se veian
cara'tulas de miseria, mascaras de sufri-

miento y de hambre Pero los hombres

mostraban un enve jecimiento prematuro,
arruinados en plena madurez . . . .

1. La Bodega, p. 35.

2. Ib id . , p . 35.

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"Las mujeres aun ofrecian un aspecto m^s
doloroso. Unas eran gi tanas, viejas y
horribles como brujas, con la plel tostada
y cobriza que parecian haber pasado por el
fuego de todos los aquelarres. Las jovenes
tenian la hermosura dolorosa y desmayada
de la anemia, f lores de la vida que se
£ j mustiaban antes de abrirsel "

Not only does Salvatierra deplore the fact that
the church interferes with the lives of the people but he
even attacks Christianity itself. He denounces the resig-
nation of the masses before social injustice and the
Christian meekness of those who are poverty-stricken and
who expect to find their reward in heaven. He maintains that
charity is a mask of sweetness behind which the wealthy
people may hide and exploit the masses; that it consists of
crumbs thrown to the poor to keep them from springing to the
table; and that the evil doers will not be punished and the
patient sufferers will not find a reward in heaven for there
is no spiritual life.

At one point Salvatierra destroys somewhat the repu-
tation that Andalucta enjoys of being smiling and gay.
Salvatierra and Fermin Montenegro are out walking in the
country. Blasco enters into a fairly long description of
the "paisaje muerto" of Andalucla, after which Salvatierra
waves his hand toward the bare rolling hills and exclaims
ironically:

"Mira, Fermin, /Andalucia la alegrel /Andalucia
$ ¥ la frfptlll"2

1. La Bodega, pp. 133 - 134.

2. Ibid., p. 195.

i

I

- 15 -

He continues to criticize ancient methods of farming, the

poverty of Spain, and the concentration of the land in the

hands of a f ew .

"Los que dan dos reales a un hombre por el
trabajo de todo un d£a pagan has td 50,000
reales por un cabal lo de fama. Cre'eme,
Fermln: hay en esta tierra miles de seres
racionales que al acostarse con los /auesos
doloridos en la esterilla del cortijo, -.
quisieran despertar trans formados en caballos."

"La Bodega" is not concerned chiefly with propaganda
against the church and against the oppression of the poor
by the rich. It is written against drinking, a habit that
Bias co always detested. The violation of Maria de la Luz
and the resultant darkening of the lives of several charac-
ters of the story is the greatest bit of propaganda in this
book.

That is not all. iuany times Salvatierra curses wine
and the influence this alcoholic poison exercises over the
lives of . the people generation after generation. The "bodeg
is the modern feudal fortress that keeps the masses in
slavery and abject misery. • Moments of enthusiasm, crimes,
happiness, love affairs, all are products of wine. Salva-
tierra speaks of wine as an invisible and omnipotent person
that intervenes in all the actions of those automatons,
"soplando en su pensamiento, limitado y vivaracho como el
de un pajaro; empujandolos lo mismo al desaliento que a
la desordenada alegria."2

The poor people cannot enjoy this pleasure of the
rich; but they envy them, dreaming of drunkenness as the

1, La Bodega, p. 199.

2. Ibid., p. 201.

6

- 16 -

greatest of pleasures. In their moments of anger or grumb-
ling it is enough to place within reach the tempting glasses
of the shining golden liquid, in order that their misery may
be drowned in gayety and revelry.

yW " )E1 vinol exclamo Salvatierra, "Ese es el

mayor enemigo de este pais: mata las
energias, crea enganosas esperanZas, acaba
con la vida prematuramente : todo lo des-
truye, hasta el amor."

Fermfn smiles as he listens to these words of his
former teacher.

"/No tanto, don Fernando1."1

Little does Fermin realize that later he will kill
to avenge the destroyed love of his sister and Rafael.
Little does he realize that this will drive Rafael to
give up his work and return to his former occupation as
smuggler .

"Ya no quer/a trabajar. dDe que7 servfa el
ser bueno? Iba a volver a la vida del
contrabando. diviUjeres? para un rato, y despues
tratarlas a golpes como bestias impudicas y
sin corazin. . . .^utrCa. declararle la guerra a
medio mundo, a los ricos a los que gobiernan,
a los que infunden miedo con sus fusiles,
y son la causa de que los pobres se vean
pisoteados por los poderosos."2

At the end of the story there is an uprising which
proves to be a failure. Salvatierra is clapped into jail.
By the time he appears again in Andalucla the people have
become resigned to their fate and accept the old order
with not a murmur. And why not be thankful? The pay has
been raised from two reales to two and a half a day.

1. La Boaega, p. 202.

2. Ibid., p. 557.

« :

- 17 -

|^ue suertei nna as usual the wine is used to drive away
sorrow. An old man is talking to salvatierra. "Why do you
take these things so seriously, don Fernando? Forget them.
If we are happy, what have you to worry about? We have taken

It

the warning. You can t do anything to those who are on top.
The old man refilled a glass with wine and offered it to
Salvatierra. "Drink; and don't worry about changing what
can't he changed. All that talk about revolutions and
equality of wealth is a pack of lies. This is the only
truth--wine It makes the time pass pleasantly. It makes
us happy until death. Drink, don Fernando; I offer it to
you because it is ours, because we have earned it. It is
cheap. It costs almost nothing."

Then Blasco's mouthpiece takes a parting shot at
the curse.

"Salvatierra el imposible, se estremeci6 con

un arrebato de cdlera Aranando la tierra

sudanao en sus surcos, dejando en sus entranas
lo mejor de su existencia, producian ellos
este liquido de oro; y los poderosos se valfan
de 61 para embriagarlos , para mantenerlos como
encantados en una falsa alegrla "1

"La Bodega" is similar to "El Intruso" in that the
same amount of propaganda issues from the mouth of Salva-
tierra. In the former book, however, the plot is even more
interes t ing •

Of the three books, "La Catedral", "El Intruso",
J* and "La oodega" the latter is the one that presents the

propaganda of blasco Ibanez most effectively. This type
of novel was new to him when he wrote "La Catedral".
He realized wherein it had defects. "El Intruso" was better.

1. La boaega, p. 571.

I

- 18 -

Both these novels, however, served as stepping stones for
the third ana last of its kind. If he had written more such
attacks against the church, social conditions, and drinking
they would undoubtecly have been much better. Either Blasco
wanted to be certain his readers knew exactly what he meant,
or he woulc have written in that characteristic style of
his, anyway. Nothing is left for the reader to imagine.
One does not have to interpret the actions and words of
characters as containing some hidden significance. His
characters actually say what he wishes to be said. This
is overdone in "La Catedral"; an improvement is noticeable
in "El Intruso"; the greatest artistic progress has been
made in "La Bodega". The first contains propaganda against
the church only; the second, propaganda against both the
church and social conditions; but the third contains all
this and an attack on drinking as well. The agitator does
not become entangled in so many long arguments and dis-
cussions. It is his business to do so but Blasco wisely
leaves practically all of them out of the book and simply
refers to them. The plot, then, has the prominent place
in "La Bodega" .

"La Bodega" is, therefore, the most artistic of the
three. In all his books, however, it is the custom, in
his sincere desire to present a complete account of the
life about which he writes, to retard the action by devot-
ing too many pages to past history. He could have eliminated
the last chapter of "El Intruso", which deals with a clash
between striking laborers and members of a religious procession.

LI

- 19 -

To be sure it serves a purpose. During the confusion,
Dr. Aresti meets Sanchez i»iorueta face to face while the
latter is marching along with the faithful ones. The story
could have been ended with the preceding chapter in which
Dr. nresti unexpectedly meets Sanchez Morueta, who is by
that time completely won over to the cause of the Jesuits,
and who is spending some time in contemplation and prayer
at a monastery in order to prepare himself for the spiritual
life. The same is true of the last chapter of "La Bodega".
This one is probably more depressing than any other in the
story. Blasco could have ended with the next to the last
chapter for Luis had been killed, Fermin had fled, Maria
de la Luz had been disgraced, and Rafael had been driven in
desperation and sorrow to smuggling* Blasco does, however,
strike a happy note which is not the usual thing for him to
do. Everybody concerned decides to forget the past, leave
Jdrez, and go to America to begin life over again. The very
ending, however, in which Salvatierra remains alone and
abandoned in Spain to carry on the thankless and fruitless
task of changing the social order, is true to the styleof
Blasco IbafLez.

"La Horda" is the miserable crowd of rag-pickers,
smugglers, vagabonds, peddlers, beggars, and thieves that
live in the poor quarters of iviadrid so often described by
Pio Baroja.

Isidro Maltrana, the hero, a bright lad but with a
weak will, is born among this element. Nov; ordinarily a
boy of this class learns a trade so that he may make a
living for himself. In this case a rich woman becomes

I

- 20 -

interested in him, takes him into her home, ana sends him
to school, kaltrana secures his bachelor1 s degree and is
almost through with his course in "Filosofia y Letras",
when his benefactress dies. She has made no provision in
her will for the completion of the education of Maltrana,
who finds himself abandoned by the rest of the family and
regarded as one of "los de aba jo", after making his living
for a while by writing articles for newspapers he becomes
acquainted with Gaspar Jimenez, a politician. Now the latter
wishes to write a book that will win for him prestige as an
economist and thinker, as he is a busy man and cannot
spend the time on such a monumental work he lets Maltrana
do it for him. kaltrana, pleased to be honored by such an
important gentleman, gladly accepts the work and considers
himself fortunate, v.hen he has received the money for his
labors he feels quite flushed with success and considers
himself one of the "burgues ia" . after a short courtship
with Feliciana, a young pretty girl with whom he has become
acquainted, they both go to a different part of Ladrid to
live together, at first all goes well, after kaltrana
finishes the book, however, he can get no more work. Things
then begin to go from bad to worse until Feliciana dies in
a hospital a short while after giving birth to a child. The
last pages of the book are lighted by a ray of hope for
Maltrana for he has found work. He no longer aspires to
obtain a literary reputation and since he cannot become an
artist he will learn a trade and work for his child.

I

****

Blasco Ibahez has invented no character in "La Horda"
to urge his ideas. He tells a story and as one reads one
gets an insight into the conditions under which the poor-
people of iuadrid exist, Blasco' s propaganda is contained
in description. The reader is left to draw his own con-
clusions for there is no direct criticism here.

"Sangre y arena11 is an attack on bull-fighting. Juan
Gallarao, the hero, the greatest hull fighter of all Spain,
is shown at the opening of the story in all his glory. Later,
he loses his nerve and his fame rapidly dwindles away to
nothing. At the end Blasco Ibaiiez "brings out forcibly the
cruelties of the sport. "Sangre y Arena" must be read with
delight by foreigners who consider bull-fighting a cruel
sport •

Besides aoing his work well, Gallardo really enter-
tains the audience with his dare-devil feats. Other men go
about their work of killing bulls as cautiously as possible
for they have families dependent on them. So does Gallardo
have a wife but he delights in making the spectator gasp and
exclaim, " /Que7 hombrel"

Blasco, in the opening pages of the story, gives an
inkling as to what he intends to do later. Juan Gallardo
is prepared to go to the bull ring and is attacked with the
usual fear. Will he emerge safely from this fight? Will
he be able to send home the usual telegram, "sin novedad"?

One day while fighting, Gallardo is thrown by a bull
and seriously hurt in the leg. It is necessary for him to
rest all winter at the end of which period of time his leg

- 22

is healed and apparently as good as ever. It is sometime
later, however, that he realizes that he has seen his "best
days* He does not receive such a tremendous ovation at his
first appearance in the spring for he does not perform so

♦ h well. He cannot plant the "espada" in just the right place.

His arm does not seem to be long enough. His leg feels weak
and he cannot get out of the way of the bull quickly. He is
not so daring as he used to be. It is not long before the
public perceives this and of course the usual thing happens.
Juan Gallardo's fame rapidly diminishes in one bull-fight
after another as he fails to equal his better days. No
longer does he think of performing daring feats to please
the public. He only wishes to collect his salary and do
his work with the least possible danger to himself.

"He hid between the ^arreras', fleeing from the in-
sults that were being hurled at him. Pillows, empty tonic
bottles, ana bits of fruit were thrown into the ring; curses,
threats, hisses, whistling, and ribald remarks were heard
from all quarters. There he remained tired and panting, with
one leg aching, satisfied, in the midst of his misfortune,
that he was free from danger. He had not been killed by the

horns of the beast thanks to his prudence." "/Ah, el

publico! /kuchedumbre de asesinos que ansian la muerte de
un hombre como si sdlo ellos amasen la vida y tuvieran una

fc UN familial"1

By far the greatest part of the propaganda of this
book is contained in the last chapter. Gallardo's wife has

1. Sangre y Arena, p. 385.

- 23 -

has been hearing of his series of failures. During every
season this poor woman lives through days of terror, realiz-
ing that she may receive bad news at any moment. This
anxiety becomes greater after the last "cogida". She con-
tinues to write letters in which she implores him to give
up bullfighting as a profession. This state of affairs con- .
tinues until the day of his miserable failure when he receives
his first "aviso" from the president's box. Carmen receives
a letter from her husband in which she plainly sees that he
intends to do something spectacular in order to regain the
favor of the public. Almost beside herself with fear and
scarcely knowing what she does, she goes to Madrid to be near
him if anything happens.

Now Carmen has never been to a bullfight in her life
and she does not wish to see this one so she remains in the
"capilla" in order to prayl The infirmary in an adjoining
room receives its first moaning victim shortly after the
bullfight begins. She can stay no longer in the "capilla".
^he goes out to the "patio" and this is what she sees:

"Sangre por todos lados; sangre en el suelo y

en las inmediaciones de unas cubas, donde el aqua

mezclabase con el liquido rojo."^

"When the horse was patched up with barbarous speed,
a bucket of water was thrown on his head, his feet were
freed of the strap and he was given a few blows with a
stick so that he would get up. Some scarcely took two steps
forward when they fell with blood spilling out of the wound.
It was instantaneous death when the intestines regained

Q

their normal position."

1. Sangre y .arena, p. 393.

2. Ibid., p. 3^5.

- 24

"Horses were mended as if they were old shoes.
Their weakness was exploited even to the last moment, pro-
longing their agony and their death. On the ground were
scattered here and there pieces of intestines that were
cut out in order to facilitate the operation. Other frag-
ments of their intestines were in the ring covered with
sand until the bull should be killed when the "mozos" could
pick up these scraps of flesh in their baskets. Many times
the empty space due to the loss of the intestines was filled
with burlap. The important thing was to make these animals
stand up a few minutes more so that the "picadores" could
go out to the ring again; there the bull would put an end
to the suffering of the horse...."'1"

"La sangre corria entre las piedras, ennegre -
c/endose al secarse."^

"The cries of the invisible crowd could be heard in
the "patio". They were exclamations of anxiety; an 'Ohl
Oh! 1 from the thousands of people told of the flight of the
"banderillero" closely followed by the bull. Then absolute
silence. The man was returning to the beast. Thunderous
applause broke out after a pair of 'banderillas 1 had been
well placed. Then the trumpets sounded announcing the
'suerte de matar' and the applause was repeated."

Carmen has only heard other people talk about bull-
fights; she has only heard what the average spectator sees —
the great battle in the ring accompanied by pomp and bril-
liant display of colors. The public knows nothing of this

1. bangre y Arena, p. 396.

2. Ibid., p. 397.

horrible butchery that takes place behind the scenes--all
for their entertainment. A frightful thought passes through
Carmen's mind, " /Y ellos vivlan, de esta fiesta, con sus
repugnantes martirios de animales debilesl /Y su fortuna
habia sido hecha a costa de tales espect^culos t "

The bull that G-allardo is to kill enters the ring.
It is too tame so fireworks are used to further antagonize
the beast.

This is the bull that tosses Gallardo. In his en-
deavor to please the public he is struck a fatal blow. He
is carried to the infirmary where he dies a few minutes later.

Then follows the most powerful attack against bull-
fighting in the whole book. Gallardo' s "banderillero" returns
to the ring. "Sintid nacer en su pensamiento un odio feroz
por todo lo que le rodeaba; una aversion a su oficio y al
publico que lo mantenia . "^

"He thought of the bull that was being dragged in the
sand at that moment, with its neck burned and covered with
blood, its legs stiff and its eyes glassy--eyes that looked
toward the blue sky as do those of a dead man."

"Then he pictured his friend, also still, 'con las

extremidades rigidas, el vientre abierto y un resplendor

mate y misterioso entre las pestanas cruzadas'."

"/Pobre toroi /Pobre espadal De pronto el

cirio rumoroso lanz6 un alarido saludando la con-
tinuacidm, del espectaculo. El nacional cerrd
los ojos y apretd los punos."

Then follows the last and most significant line in
which the public is represented as a monster:

1, Sangre y Arena, p. 409.

c

Vv

- 26 -

"Rugfa la fiera: la verdaderfc, la unica."

Such are the thoughts that flash through the mind of
a foreigner as he sits in a "bullring and hears the deafening
noise produced by the cheering, hissing, and whistling of the
crowd.

It seems that "bullfighting has lost some of its attrac
tiveness and that football is slowly coming to the front.
If the former sport is finally superseded by the latter for
the benefit of Spain, some of the credit certainly must be
given to Blasco Ibanez, for his "Sangre y Arena" clearly
demonstrates that the average Spaniard who thinks and who
has the interests of his country at heart is awakening to
the brutality of the sport,

Blasco Ibariez wrote other works of propaganda which
are important, name/^, uLos Guatros Jinetes del Apocalipsis"
and "Una Naci<5n Secuestrada" • The former a novel written
in 1916 while the World War was raging, is important as a
work of propaganda in favor of the allies. This thesis,
however, is not concerned with the war propaganda of Blasco
Ibanez as contained in "Los Guatro Jinetes" and other works
produced while in the employ of the French Government, The
latter, written in 1924, is not a novel but a pamphlet con-
taining a scathing denunciation of Alfonso and his policies.
The English translation of its title, "Alfonso XIII Unmasked"
is indeed appropriate, for these fifty odd pages of invec-
tive in which the king is denounced as a liar, a schemer, a
worthy descendant of Ferdinand VII, are a daring attempt to
snatch the mask from before the monarch, and doubtless had

\

- 27 -

some influence in rousing popular sentiment towards Alfonso,

"Una Naci6n Secuestrada" was something that Blasco
wrote hurriedly at a time when the pitiful conditions of
Spain roused him from the tranquil life of a novelist to
the point where he lay bare the reasons for Spain's back-
wardness, not in a sugar-coated fashion, but with all the
bitterness and savageness that could possibly spring from
his pen. The king is attacked from all angles. Nothing is
omitted. Alfonso is blamed for the grip that the militarist
forces have on Spain. He is denounced because he is a chip
of the Bourbon block. His friends are denounced along with
him. Alfonso, the great" military leader", is ridiculed
because of his victories in Africa. Blasco pokes fun at
his many ambitions and blames him for the long dictatorship
of Primo de Rivera.

The English translation of "Una Naci6n Secuestrada"
is quite free as one may find after a short examination.
Evidently it was translated for the purpose of being sold as
an interesting story as well as a book containing the truth
about the deplorable condition of bpain for the work is
divided into chapters with interesting titles such as,
"Ma chine -Gun Government" and "The King kust Go I" It is, in
fact, most interesting reading.

There is some propaganda contained in the Valencian
novels of Blasco Ibafiez, especially in his masterpiece,
"La Barraca". It all has to do, however, with the vain
struggle of the man who is down to better his condition and
is too general. This thesis will be restricted to the five
novels, mentioned above, against the church, against drinking,

r

- 28-

and against bullfighting.

Of the five novels, "La Horda" is the one which
appeals most to the emotions of the reader. This is not a
"novela de tesis". The anarquist is lacking. There is no
one to speak against the church, no one to attack the social
order, no one to declare to the world the evil effects of
liquor. "Se advierte en ella un sano deseo de diluir cada
vez mas la parte tendenciosa y supeditarla a la parte nove-
lesca."1

The social order is attacked, however, by a description
of the soraid conditions under which the lower classes of
Madrid exist. The dominant feature of the story is the
plot. The second half of this novel is most depressing.
The author relates with all the horrible details possible
the sufferings of this young couple who get married, not in
the church but behind the church. It is not long before
their money is almost gone. Feliciana works on corsets
from early morning until late at night in order to earn
a few pesetas and thus keep them from starving. But that
is not enough. They have to sell their furniture, piece
by piece. ..hen that money is gone kaltrana begins to borrow.
They are put out of that house because they cannot pay
the rent. They go to live in the gypsy section but mis-
fortune continues to pursue them, /.'inter comes. There is
no heat in the house and they have not sufficient clothing
to keep their bodies warm. Feliciana suffers two attacks
of eclampsia. Through the influence of a friend of Isidro,
she is removed to a hospital. While she remains there
Isidro wanders about the streets aimlessly, friendless, and

1. snare's Gonzalez-Bianco, Historia de la Kovela en Espana,
p. 636.

- 29 -

homes less. A child is born, about a week later- Isidro
is told that Feliciana has died in one of the attacks.
Even after this, misfortune continues to harass him. Two
weeks later he is informed that she had not died at the
time, but a week later. He is also told that her body was
taken to the dissecting room and later thrown into the "fosa
comun". It is only after this, with the coming of spring,
that his long horrible experience ends, as one reads,
thoughts like the following pass through one's mind: Will
this ever end? burely their condition cannot become worse.
out Blasco Ib^nez is particularly skillful in picturing the
sufferings of "los ae abajo", and in this novel he does it
by playing upon the emotions more than in any of the other
four.

It does not seem possible that anyone would care to
reread these novels for pleasure except to obtain a good
description of the Spanish national sport in "Sangre y
Arena" •

The descriptions of Blasco Ibanez, like those of
Zola, are realistic. No detail is left out. All the blood,
the agonized cries, the suffering are present in "Sangre y
Arena"; the bad odors, the cramped living conditions and
the misery of the people of Madrid are brought out in "La
Horda"; the wretched lives of the miners of Bilbao and the
laborers of J^rez are depicted in "El Intruso" and in
"La Bodega", He was still influenced by Zola, then, in
these "novelas de tesis", as may be seen in his clamoring
for a social change and his realistic descriptions. In

- 30 -

1

fact, Blasco called himself the Spanish Zola,

He was a veritable painter, transferring to paper
exactly what he had seen. He was a painter of people,
masses, street scenes, customs, injustice, sorrow, and
tragic endings. His novels are descriptions of human
nature, never interpretations. He never analyzed his char-
acters. According to one of his critics, Joaquin Ortega,
he devoted his life to the wrong vocation. Instead of
writing novels, he should have given his time to the
production of the artistic and the monumental album of
Spanish regional life. Of course his descriptions such
as those in "Los ^rgonautos" and in "Mare Nostrum", are
sometimes tiresome even in these novels of propaganda,
iror example, he breaks the thread of the story of "La Eorda"
to tell the reader something about the customs of the
gypsies. The account of a gypsy wedding is interesting
but it does not belong in that novel.

In these novels of propaganda he is still a great
painter of mob scenes. In "El Intruso" he has the miners
clash with a group of religious people on a pilgrimage.
In "La bodega" he has the laborers rise in revolt against
the rich people. In "Sangre y Arena" he introduces the
reader time and again to the peculiarities of the crowds
that attend bullfights.

1. Gejador y Frauca, Historia de la Lengua y Literatura
Castellana, Vol. 9, p. 472.

4-.

- 30^ -

It is this power to describe skillfully and
accurately life as he has seen it that makes people
reread his books; it is the excellence of his descrip-
tions that has made his work notable in spite of his
many defects which relegate him to a third or a fourth
place as a man of letters.

It seems to be an accepted fact among some
critics that the characters of all the author's books do
not stand out. To be sure the principal characters as
well as the minor characters of the five novels in
question are engulfed somewhat by the propaganda.
Gabriel Luna is an example of one who is completely
cast into the background in order that the ideas of the
author may stand boldly forth. In the later works the
principal characters are all used as a means to an end
but they enjoy more prominent positions. Aresti and
Gallardo are more like human beings than machines while
thoughts of i^altrana and Feliciana leave vivid impres-
sions in the mind of the reader. It cannot be said,
therefore, that his characters in general are obliterated
by the rush of events .

All his men are fighters like himself,
struggling for fame, power, or life. The reader cannot

- 31 -

peer into the hidden chambers of the soul, They are men
of action who act on impulse . Sanchez ..orueta and Pablc
Dupont, by force of will together with capacity and hard
work, won high places as great business men. Ferm^n
Montenegro killed in order to avenge the violation of
his sister. G-allardo threw himself recklessly at the
horns of the bull in his last attempt to regain the good-
will of the people. All his characters are real men.
Here and there throughout the stories one will find such
expressions as these applied to his characters: "era
todo un hombre"; "tan hombre como el que mas"; "el hombre
ma's hombre" .

The women occupy secondary places in these
novels for love is never the chief interest. There are
three types: the cringing, obedient, humble woman like
oagrario, karla de la Luz, and Feliciana; the religious
fanatic like Gristina; and the restless, fickle adven-
turess like dona Sol. Of these above named women Sagrario
ana Feliciana, the two that are overwhelmed with misfor-
tune, stand out from the others. The penitence of Sagrario
cannot be easily forgotten and the fortitude of Feliciana,
a mere girl, under the weight of misfortune greater than
most older people have to bear, is admirable. Joaquin
Ortega once said that there was not in all his work "una
sola mujer completa" . Yet thoughts of Sagrario and
Feliciana linger in the mind long after one has read the
novels .

- 52 -

This is what M. Romera Navarro says about the women
of Blasco:

"El unico tipo de mujer que ha trazado con
maestria, el unico que se fija en la memoria
del lector y perdura en ella, es el de la
hembra caprichosa, dominante, voluptuosa,
que aparece, primero en 'Entre Nara^os'
como actriz, reaparece eomo gran da ma
cazadora del placer en 'bangre v Arena', y
y vuelve a salir como espia en Mare Nostrum' .

The the reason that they are " caprichosas " leads
one to forget them as soon as the stories have been read,
b'agrario and reliciana are far more superior to dona Sol.

None of his women, however, will become immortal

for he never considered women important.

"La mujer no es toda la vida /T.i

siquiera la mitad de la vida1. Con ser
indudablerr.ente lo mejor que hay en ella.
No es que yo la desprecie como los
orientales pero tampoco sufrl jamas su
imperio tira'nico. Yo soy un macho, un
gozador, no un sentimental. Yo opino que
la mujer es una de las muchas cosas
legit imamente codiciables y dignas de
conquista que hay bajo el sol ."2

In that paragraph are the reasons why the women

in his novels are relegated to places of less importance

than are the women of other writers. He liked their company

for a short while but their frivolity and their feminine

ways bored hirn. Love, which is not the dominant note of

his novels, was not the only thing.

"....... luego el var6n fuerte debe zafarse

de los blancos brazos enlazados a su cuello,
y prose^uir su camino, su lucha sagrada por
el mejoramiento y el bienestar humanos y la
conquista de la tierra." 3

Historia de la Literatura Espanola, p. 651 ff.
2. Eduardo Zamacois, Lis Contempora'ne'os , p. 22.

5. Ibid., p. 94-95.

* f

- 33 -

In these novels of Blasco there are no women as
brave as the men for Blasco could never imagine great
feminine valor.

borne of the secondary characters are interesting.

One cannot help being touched by the pitiful condition in

which Sagrario returns from Madrid and the manner in which

she condemns herself to penitence in the cathedral. How can

one refuse to forgive her for her sins? Near the end of

the story, she and Gabriel realize that they are in love

with each other. It is a different kind of love, however,

which unites them.

"Y los dos invalidos de la vida se olvidaban
de la propia dolencia para pensar en la del
otro, establecie'ndose entre sus almas una
corriente de conmiseracidn amorosa , atray^ndose,
no por el apasionamiento del sexo, sino por la
simpatia fraternal que le inspiraba su desgracia."1

There is a conversation between Gabriel and Sagrario

that is one of the greatest I have ever read.

"No te separes: no me temas. Ni yo soy
un hombre, ni tu eres ya una mujer. Has
sufrido mucho, has dicho adids a las
alegrias de la tierra, eres fuerte por el
infortunio y puedes mirar cara a cara a
la verdad . bomos dos ndufragos de la vida:
sdlo nos resta esperar y morir en el islote
que no^sirve de refugio."^

Fernando Sanabre, of "El Intruso", is almost as
interesting. This honest, sincere, ambitious young man is
just one of the victims of the "intruso".

The anarchists of blasco Ib^nez always seem more
like Christians than the religious fanatics. Spain abounds

1. La Catedral, p. 232.

2. Ibid., p. 319.

4

- 34 -

in these philosophical anarchists as distinguished from
the terrorist anarchists. The former class believe that
there should be only what government as is absolutely
necessary. Such anarchists hold the theory that the govern-
ment of man by man is essentially unphilosophical and wrong,
that the highest attainment of humanity is to be reached by
the freedom of the individual to make the fullest expression
of his own character and qualities, unhindered by repression
or control from without; that hence any such control is funda
mentally objectionable. They hold that the perfection of
humanity will never be attained until all government is
abolished, ana each individual left absolutely free. The
defenders of this system disclaim all violent methods.

balvatierra never hesitated to give his money to help
a person in need. He even used to give away his clothes and
food in order that someone in a worse condition might be
more comfortable. He drank only water, and as for eating
he took only bread and cheese. This was his food .twice a
day since he left jail. He could live on thirty "c^ntimos"
a day. He had decided that as long as social inequality
existed ana millions of beings perished slowly because of
improper nourishment, he was not entitled to more.

On the one hand Grist ina sinks her money into the
church where it does not alleviate suffering; on t he other-
hand Dr. Aresti gives up all chances to become rich and
dedicates himself and his knowledge to the curing of the
sick people in the poverty-stricken mining towns.

Luna, while endeavoring to convince his brother that

*■

- 35 -

he should permit Sagrario to return, actually seems more
like a Christian than Esteban who professes to be a follower
of Christ.

"Al que falta a las leyes de la familia, al
que deserta de su bandera , tu lo condenas
para siempre, lo sentencias a la muerte del

olvido ^ntendemos el honor de un modo

distinto. Tu eres el honor castellano:
aquel honor tradicional y barbaro, mas cruel
y funesto que la misma deshonra: un honor
teatral, cuyos impulsos no arrancan nuncade
los sentimientos humanos, sino del miedo al
que dir^n, del deseo de aparecer muy grande
y muy digno a los ojos de los demas antes
que a los de la propia conciencia. Para la
esposa adultera la muerte, el asesinato
vengador; para la hija fugitiva el desprecio,
el olvido; 111

"Tu religion hace a los hijos frutos de Dios ,
y sin embargo, cre^is ser mejores y mds per-
fectos cuando repele*is y maldecis esos regalos
del cielo apenas se causan una contrariedad . "1

The novels of Blasco Ibanez are filled with emotion.
He could not write without injecting emotion into his work.
This enthusiasm is what made him prostitute his art as in
"La Catedral". The secret of whatever success his works
of propaganda might have had is found in the emotional
element. These works are based upon two or three out-
standing ideas, namely, the evils of the church, social
injustice, drinking, and bullfighting, and all the efforts
of the writer are combined to unmask these monsters which
shackle Spain.

Blasco has been the object of several accusations.
In the first place many people have accused him of being a
melodramatic writer. This "defect" appears in all his works,

1. La Catedral, p. 165

- 36 -

from the Valencian novels to the third group of books.
How his earlier and later books are affected is not the
concern of this thesis. The emotional effect is certainly
not out of place in the works of propaganda. Is it not
by means of the emotions that a piece of propaganda does
its work?

In the second place Blasco has been accused
as a vulgar and obscene writer. The vulgarity of Blasco,
however, is only in the language and not in the thought.
It is in the manner of saying things rather than the sig-
nificance conveyed; it is in the great desire to copy
exactly the exterior aspect of reality in order to force
his views to the front. This brings to one's mind again
the trend of the naturalists and the influence of Zola.
It is possible that he may be improper in some places.
There are inany other well-known modern writers who are
really vulgar but they will never become as great as
Blasco Iba'nez. His works have to d,o with social diffi-
culties which are real live problems. Sometimes in the
very novels that have been marked as vulgar, beautiful
passages are mixed with the repulsive pictures of human
weakness and suffering. For example, the spiritual
relation between Gabriel and Sagrario in "La- Catedral"
is one of the delightful passages amid the stream of
propaganda. The beautiful v/ords of brotherhood and
forgiveness of Salvatierra in "La Bodega" may be pointed
out also.

- 37 -

In the third place many critics say that Blasco is
a pessimist hut he is not. To he sure, according to him,
life is a struggle. Life is not what it should he but one
should try to make it better. Not only his books of propa-
ganda but many others as well are songs to progress and the
idea of universal brotherhood. Pie is not a fatalist as one
may suppose. He recognizes the existence of Destiny but
he does not fold his arms and submit to it mildly. He
loves life above all things. 'His heroes fight until they
fall dead or useless in the battle. It seems that Blasco
likes to write about men who struggle against great diffi-
culties for the sake of trying to dominate situations.
This is the reason why his novels appeal to Americans.
Sometimes his characters struggle on to the end and when
circumstances have pushed them into a corner, they them-
selves become challengers, as in the case of Isidro Maltrana
when he sits outside his house with his baby in his arms
and swears that he will strive to do for it what he could
not do for Feliciana. In a very few instances, as in
"Los iuuertos iaandan" , the characters go right to the end
with a blind faith that rolls aside all obstacles. They
have the rooted belief that they cannot be beaten. Practi-
cally all the heroes of Blasco, however, do not triumph;
they succumb sooner or later before the inevitable circum-
stances. Gabriel Luna, Sanchez korueta, Fernando Salvatierra,
Isidro maltrana, Juan Gallardo--all the heroes of his novels
of propaganda are finally beaten dov/n to death or submission.
Most of his characters go down fighting before black

* ■

- 38 -

Impossibility. How can one say that Blasco Ibdnez is a
pessimist when he admires a fighter? How can one accuse
him of pessimism when his characters do not lose without
first having disputed with brain and muscle the right to
live?

The pessimism of Blasco Ibanez, therefore, is health-
ful. It is not the pessimism of the fatalists who renounce
action because everything is ordained: for his heroes,
life is a book in which they must write a few lines. It
is not the pessimism of the Spanish "plcaro" who believes
that it is useless to persist in changing things by climbing
the hard steep path when there are easier ways to get along.
For the heroes of blasco, life is a stark reality, a path
that one must follow and knock down the barriers that
obstruct the way. They throw themselves into the conflict
without hesitation as Don ^uiiote attacked the windmills
without noticing the resistance of Rocinante or the hard-
ness of his lance.

Nothing cheerful relieves the gloom hanging over the
pictures in all these works which I have been discussing.
They are replete with scenes of shadow and misery that bar
all that means light and joy. Apparently Blasco is of a
dramatic temperament: what is gruesome seems to fascinate
him.

The great force with which Blasco wrote covers his
other defects. His style is wordy at times, his observation
is superficial when he is away from his native Valencia, and
his language is too emphatic, careless, and incorrect. He

- 39 -

wrote by impulse without preoccupation as to literary form.
He says:

"Yo soy de los que producer! por explosion.

Mi trabajo resulta semejante al del torpedo

que parte vertiginosamente ; unas veces toca

en el bianco deseado, otras se pierde sin

^xito en el vacio; pero cuando estalla lo l

hace con una brevedad instanta'nea y tumultuosa . "

Blasco never went back to correct and finish: his
words jumped from hi^ pen and there they remained as they
had fallen. But he was no different in this respect from
many other Spanish writers. Improvisation, whether it be
detrimental or beneficial, is in evidence throughout Spanish
literature. The average Spaniard does not reread, correct,
and polish with the perseverance of the Frenchman.

Blasco Ibanez was incapable of writing about the

aristocracy because he was one of the people and knev/ them

better than he knew the upper classes. He had to struggle

too much to have any sympathy with the aristocratic class.

He had been a political agitator, he had spent a part of

his life in jail, he had been mortally wounded in fierce

duels, he knew all the physical suffering that a man could

bear, including that of great poverty. Furthermore, he was

a real man. Part of a letter to his friend Cejador y

Frauca is interesting:

"Yo me enorgullezco de ser un escritor lo
menos literato posible; quiero decir lo
menos prof esional . Aborrezco a los que
hablan a todas horas de su profesidn y se
juntan siempre con colegas, y no pueden
vivir sin ellos, tal vez porque sustentan
su vida mordidndolos . Yo soy un hombre
que vive y, adem^s cuando le queda tiempo
para ello, escribe por una necesidad
imperiosa de su cerebro. ^iendo asi, creo
proseguir la tradicidn espafiola, noble y

1. Gfascd Oontell, Blasco Ibanez, p. 141

«

- 40 -

varonil. Los me j ores genios literarios
de nuestra raza fueron hombres, hombres

verdaderos, fueron soldados,

granaes viajeros, corrieron aventuras
fuera de Espana, sufrieron cautividades
y miser ias ... • y ademds escribieron.
Guando tuvieron que renir a brazo partido
con la vida, abandonaron la pluma, con-
siderando incompatible la producci6n literaria
con las exigencias de la accidn."

He goes on to say that Cervantes once spent eight
years without writing. Thus does one learn more about
life than by spending one's days in the cafe's, or by see-
ing it all through books .

In this same letter he aeclares that he wrote his
novels of propaganda with sincerity. The country had just
suffered a crushing defeat in one of its colonies. Spain
was in a shameful condition and he roughly attacked, bring
ing to light some manifestations of apathy on the part of
certain classes of people, thinking that this might serve
as a reaction.

The following paragraph has more to do with his

style and the element of emotion.

"Yo no creo que las novelas se hacen con la
razdn, con la inteligencia . La raz6n y la
inteligencia intervienen en la obra artlstica,
como directores y ordenadores. Tal vez ni
siQuiera dirigen ni ordenan, mantenie'ndose
al mar gen del trabajo como simples conse jeros .
El constructor verdadero y unico es el instinto,
el subconsciente , las fuerzas misteriosas e
invisibles que el vulgo rotula con el titulo
de 11 inspiracidn" • Un artista verdadero hace
las me j ores cosas porque si, porque no puede
hacerlas de otra manera."

Blasco, of course, glorifies his anarchists.
They have purposely been made brilliant while the rich

Gejador y Frat/ca, his tor ia de la Lengua y Literature
Gas tcllana . \ol. y, p. 471 fi'.

r

t:

- 41 -

people and the religious fanatics have no champion. In
all arguments that take place between people with conflicting
ideas, the anarchists always win. The simple folk of the
cathedral all look up to Gabriel Luna. He convinces his
"brother against his will that he should allow Sagrario to
return home. In several other instances Gabriel "enlightens"
people and gives them the truth on certain matters.
Dr. aresti has given up his practice in the city to devote
his life and knowledge unselfishly to aid the poor people
in the mining districts. Sanchez Morueta is a millionaire
but as compared with Dr. Aresti he is an uneducated fool.
He knows nothing about the fine arts and in the end has to
run to the church for spiritual protection. Lone before
that, Dr. Aresti had told him it would happen but he merely
scoffed at such a ridiculous idea. Among other discussions
Dr. Aresti has quite a bitter verbal duel with Urquiola,
in which the doctor easily wins every point.

On the other hand why does Blasco Ibanez make his
radical characters exaggerated? At the end of "La Catedral" ,
Gabriel Luna is killed by the people who have seized hold
of his ideas and misinterpreted them. Is the writer afraid
of the many things that he says against the church in the
earlier chapters?

In "La Bodega" Salvatierra is explaining to a group
of laborers what the society of the future will be like.
No more oppressors'. All the classes and professions are
to be obliterated! There will be no priests, soldiers,
politicians, lawyers — not even doctors'. On the day when
the revolution is to take place there will be no more sick-

- 42 -

ness because those diseases that exist are brought about
by a desire for ostentation on the part of the rich. They
eat more than is good for themselves, while the poor man
has scarcely enough to hold his body together. The new
society, by dividing equally the means of subsistence, will
do away with oversupply for some and undersupply for others
which in turn will put an end to disease.

In the last chapter Salvatierra is let out of jail
for the authorities know that he can not stir up more
trouble — to such an extent has he lost favor.

,,hen he turns up in Jerez, his old friends flee,
not wishing to become bound by him again. Others regard
him with hatred, as if he were responsible for all their
present misery.

From time to time they look at the agitator inso-
lently, x^n old liar, like all the rest of those who seek
relief for the working man. Those who have followed his

advice are rotting in the cemetery and there he is

Less talk and more food..... They are clever, they have
seen enough to know the truth, and they are with the one
who will give them something. The real friend of the poor
is the master with his wages; and if he gives wine with
money, better still. Besides, what does the condition of
the workers mean to that rascal who is dressed like a gentle-
man, even though his clothes are worn out like those of a
beggar? His hands are not calloused. He wants to live at
their expense; a sponger like so many others.

4

- 43 -

.y does Blasco have his anarchists lose favor like
that? Is it fear or is it that he likes to have his fighters
go down before the inevitable? Later in life when he becomes
rich he does not have so much to say about social injustice.
In those earlier days is he afraid to hear it said that he
is an anarchist and is that the way he throws people off
the trail? Or would not that have mattered to him?

It is difficult to know just how much influence these
works of propaganda had on the bpanish people and how much
they had to go with bringing about the revolution of 1951.

One critic laments the fact that Blasco is so well
known in English-speaking countries to the exclusion of so
many other bpanish novelists better deserving of recognition.
He refers, of course, to his later works. The English-speak-
ing people do not know much about his works of propaganda.
The same vigorous f orcefulnes s , which catches the interest
of the public, permeates his entire work. The translations
of his stories are interesting despite the fact that he is
crude and ungrammatlcal at times, that he may be commercial
and too prolific, and that delicacy, finesse, and polish are
not to be found in his writings. He himself declares:

"Guanto mas sencillo es un autor menos
esfuerzo cuesta su lectura. Por lo mismo
pro euro siempre escribir sin oropeles,
retbricos, llanamente, con el prop6sito
linico de que el lector ' se olvide' de que
esta leyendo, y al terminar la ultima pa'gina
le parezca que sale de un sueno, o que acaba
de devanarse ante sus ojos una visidn de
cinema tdgraf o."2

The secret of the success of his books of propaganda

1. George Tyler Lorthup, An Introduction to bpanish Litera-
ture , p. 580.

2. Eauarao Zamacois, Mis Contempordneos , p. 21.

- 44 -

lies in the appeal to the emotions. He is melodramatic
and one may think that he is insincere. But he is not.
He, like some other Spaniards, lived in Spain long enough
to realize that the country was gagged. His initial motive
is sincere. He wanted to disclose to his fellow Spaniards
and to the rest of the world that Spain was under a yoke.
He became a bit too enthusiastic and his emotions carried
him to extremes . whether or not this exaggeration is detri-
mental to the literary value of these five novels, the fact
remains that he did his bit for the advent of republicanism.
In fact he, a pen-fighter, did help do everything except
wrest the monarchy from its throne by violence. He became
the "portavoz" of the people and his . reatest call was the
direct attack on the king, "Una Nacic/n Secues trada" .

He knew the Spanish people and he loved them.
He loved Spain even after he had been banished and his
property confiscated by the monarchy. But Alfonso and the
rubbish that encircled him were all usurpers, with the
interests of themselves at stake and not the interests of
opaniards at heart, Blasco preferred to live in France,
for he had enough money to live like a lord even after
his property was seized in Spain. He had already left that
country before the monarchy had the "pleasure" of barring him.

Those who have extolled his Valencian novels have
also lamented the fact that he left this field in which
he was unrivalled to produce other works which lower his
prestige. There are others who say that he was engaged
in the wrong vocation. Instead of writing novels he should

- 45 -

have applied his talent to the production of the artistic
and monumental album of bpanish regional life.

The revolution probably would have taken place just
as soon if there had been no Blasco Ibahez. Nevertheless,
there was a Blasco Ibanez, who appealed to other oppressed
Spaniards by means of his novels bursting with propaganda and
his simple forceful style and language that could be readily
understood by the masses. It is only too evident that there
was a demand at the time for men of his type, namely, pen-
fighters. Spain did not have too many of them. His were
passionate fiery books that loosed against the author the
most violent censures. He was stigmatized as irreconcilable,
as a fanatic and heretic. And what of it? The novelist
launches himself violently against the power of the clergy
which impoverishes nations and stifles initiative and inde-
pendent thought and makes the pleasure of living disappear
from the face of the earth, and he thunders against that
abominable social institution that places the wealth of the
world in the hands of a few and lets entire families die of
hunger, of filth, and of cold on a land that, were it better
cultivated, would be enough to furnish happiness for every-
body .

Spain is now a Republic. The use for the "libros de
combate", as Zamacois calls them, is not so great. They
r have not the literary value that the Valencian novels

possess. People will read them but once for pleasure since
they are interesting as propaganda but uninspiring as novels.

When Blasco Ibahez died Spain lost a great contem-
porary warrior. It lost a real man, an adventurer. He was

- 46 -

as much at home on the other side of the globe as he was in
his native city. His great experience in many and varied
walks of life enabled him to be versatile and interesting.
He was a champion of the Spanish people. It is small wonder
that, on the last day of June, 1931, after the elections had
taken place, the headline "Viva Blasco Ibahez" appeared in
large black type on the front page of "El Pueblo" in the
streets of Valencia. "/Si, una vez mas, miles de veces,
siemprei" It is no wonder they call him "El Maestro
Involvidable".

Blasco Iba*nez had become the writer of all Spain.
After the Great V.ar he became interested in a new field. The
whole world was ready and waiting to give him other exper-
iences and more material for books. He began to travel.
He saw Europe. He lived in South America and began to write
a series of "American" novels which he never finished. The
war broke out and Blasco, always desirous to be near the
center of action, went to Paris to live. His experiences
enabled him to write three war novels, "Los Guatro Jinetes
del Apocolipsi s" , "Mare Nostrum", and "Los Enemigos de la
Mujer" . Formerly, he had employed all his literary skill to
promote ideas of a Spanish revolution, the fall of the mon-
archy, and the advent of a republic; now he thundered against
Prussian militarism, and praised the cause of the allies.
By the end of the war Blasco had become popular especially
in this country which he visited to give lectures. From
then on Blasco was a changed man, even in appearance. His
novels began to make money for him. "Los Cuatro Jinetes",
"Sangre y Arena", and "Mare Nostrum" appeared in the movies.

- 47 -

He took a trip around the world. He turned his back on
bpain and established himself in a palatial villa at the
Riviera. He became fond of luxuries and enjoyed many con-
veniences that he never knew while in Spain. No longer did
he turn out the good literary works of his younger days in
Valencia, Furthermore, after becoming rich, his radical
ideas were somewhat tempered. It cannot be said, however,
that he did not remain a staunch defender of the Republican
cause •

*nd so in this third literary period, Blasco Iba'nez
became famous as an internationalist.

Bibliography

lm Blasco Ibanez, Vicente

La Catedral (1905), El Intruso (1904), La Horda (1905)
Sangre y Arena (1908); Valencia, P. Sempere y cfa.

La Bodega, Valencia, Prometeo, 1905.

Una Kacidn becuestrada, New York, Publicidad Hispdnica.

Alfonso XIiI Unmasked, New York, t. P. Dutton and Go.
1924.

2. Cejador y Frauca, Julio. Eistoria de la Lengua y

Litsratura Gastellana, Vol. 9., Madrid: Tip. de la
"Revista de Archivos, Bibl. y lluseos," 1918.

General reference.

3. Contell, Gascd. Blasco Ibanez. Paris: Agencia Mundial

de Librerla, 1925.

A biography .

4. Gonzalez-Bianco, Andre's. Historia de la Nov e la en

.tispafla . Madrid: Saenz de Jubera Hermanos, 1909.

General Reference.

5. Hurtado Gonzalez y Palencia. Historia de la Literatura

espanola . Madrid: Tip. de la "Revista de Arch. Ribl.
y Museos," 1922.

General Reference.

6. Ortega, Joaquin. Vicente blasco Ibanez. University of

Wisconsin Studies by members of the Department of
Romance Languages. Series No. 1, pp. 214-238.
Madison, 1924.

General Reference.

7. Pitollet, Camille. Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Ses Romans

et le Roman de sa Vie. Paris: Galmann-Levy , 1921.

A good and complete biography.

8» Romera Navarro, M. Historia de la Literatura Espanola.
New York: D. G . Heath y Gia., 1928.

9. Zamacois, £duardo • Mis Contempor^neos . ..aarid:
Librerfa de los bucesores de Hernando, 1910.

Biography

and

Criticism.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

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